Lose Your Head

Love and sex can be just as frightening as they are thrilling, especially when they carry an edge of wildness or a hint of insanity. Luis (Fernando Tielve) falls into just such a crux between passion and terror, each sensation heightening the other, in Patrick Schuckmann and Stefan Westerwelle’s Berlin-set thriller "Lose Your Head."

The film is fiction, but it’s inspired on the disappearance of a Portuguese man a few years ago. In this case, Luis is Spanish; he heads to Berlin for a few days to party when he and his lover, Carlos (Jonás Beramí) come to an impasse in their relationship. It doesn’t take Luis long to find his way into the company of a group of new friends; he’s just as quickly swallowed into a club culture that runs on thumping music and drugs of all sorts.

When Luis meets Viktor (Marko Mandic), a Ukrainian living in Germany illegally, he’s immediately infatuated; but then, realizing that Viktor is wanted for questioning in the matter of a missing young Greek man, Dimitri (Jan Amazigh Sid), Luis begins to suffer pangs of distrust and paranoia. Making matters worse, Luis has also befriended Dimitri’s sister Elena (Sesede Terziyan) and cousin Kostas (Stavros Yagoulis), who are searching the city desperately for some trace of Dimitri.

"Lose Your Head" plays like a darker, more claustrophobic version of "Stranger By the Lake," and even strays into David Lynch territory for a while when dream, rarity, and terror fuse into a jagged delirium. That’s when the film gets really interesting, having relied earlier too much on chance encounters and coincidence. Then, however, the narrative wends back into more traditional thriller terrain, with some horror movie flourishes; it’s like seeing a soufflé fall.

There are no special features on this DVD release, but none are needed. Though "Lose You Head" is far from believable, once you enter its feverish realm it serves to grip and pique your interest. This film really is the cinematic equivalent of a wild party weekend: It catches you up in the moment, but you’ll forget all about it later.

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Assistant Arts Editor, writing about film, theater, food and drink, and travel, as well as contributing a column. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.